


We're Just Us

by kittykat2892



Series: Castle of Glass [1]
Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Alpha Go Go, Alpha Tadashi, Alpha Wasabi, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Beta Fred, Beta Honey Lemon, Circumstances Don't Excuse a Villain, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Superheroes, Tadashi Lives, Unpresented Hiro
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-16 19:48:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5838652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittykat2892/pseuds/kittykat2892
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hiro wanted to make Tadashi proud, but the results have Tadashi fighting for his life.</p><p>Making amends and finding the perpetrator shouldn't be too difficult. Hiro battling his own inner demons at the same time might be a bit of a problem though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Instinctual

**Author's Note:**

> This is Part 01 of a(n at least) four part series that I have planned. We're Just Us follows the plot of the movie with minor and major changes to introduce the A/B/O dynamics, mechanics, and culture. It also "fixes" Tadashi's movie death.
> 
> While this first part has no pairings (nor anything that would warrant a mature rating as of yet), I'm going to go ahead and warn my readers that come the end of Part 02, there will be the beginnings of Hidashi. People can read this first part without any worries whatsoever, but I don't want to lead anyone to thinking that the tone of this part will set the tone for the rest of the series.
> 
> Updates will be weekly on this first part, but that schedule is subject to change with the following parts. I hope you enjoy~!

_**~ Tadashi never fails to save Hiro. ~** _

Night life in San Fransokyo pulsed between excitement and danger. All-night casinos, karaoke bars, and dance clubs drew the attention of the Alphas wanting to find a partner and Betas wanting to relieve the day’s boredom. Omega singers, waitresses, and dancers offered veiled smiles and shy invitations to interested parties throughout the bright life of downtown San Fransokyo. Downtown, though more crowded, was by far safer than the back alley on the outskirts of the city’s harbor whose location could be found on the right Internet sites.

Fourteen-year-old Hiro Hamada clutched Megabot to his chest, flinching at coarse shouts and insults as he pushed his way through to the front of the crowd. The smell of fish and salt tinged the air even as downwind as the location was from the ocean, making the boy’s eyes water. Teenagers, college students, and adults all sneered at Hiro as he passed, elbowing their friends or partners to draw even more attention to the small boy. Hiro kept his eyes lowered, his thoughts focused on difficult equations and scenarios to keep his lips from twitching into a cocky smirk. Let them think he was in over his head—they’d learn soon enough.

Word hadn’t quite yet spread of the young boy that had been destroying the champions of each Bot Fight arena in the past month. Rumors circulated on the fringes of Bot Fighting society but had yet to take root. Hiro hoped that his triumph tonight would spur the rumors into a raging fire, his Bot’s name on everyone’s lips as they looked over their shoulders every night for Hiro Hamada, Bot Fighter Extraordinaire.

The only hurdle in the way of Hiro’s grand scheme was the overall Bot Fighting champion. Street Bot Fights, while not illegal themselves, tended to err on the wrong side of the law because of copious amounts of gambling. Fight locations were posted every night on password protected sites thirty minutes before the start of the first round to make it harder on the police to find and break up the rings. Champion Bot Fighters handled their infamy along the same lines—each champion took a nickname and told a fight’s organizer that they would show up only fifteen minutes before the first fight.

A week's worth of research went into Hiro discovering the overall champion’s whereabouts. The spontaneous announcements usually put the champion at a ring too far for Hiro to get to in time. Only tonight had the champion decided to grace the furthest ring within Hiro’s turf, and he had feared the thought of the champion slipping back into the stream of fights before Megabot had his chance at glory. 

The boy had snuck out of his home while his older brother was in the shower. His aunt had already retired for the night. He had received strange looks on the bullet train, but people kept to themselves after dark. San Fransokyo, while huge and overpopulated, was viewed as one of the safest cities in which to raise children. Plenty of Alphas and Betas lived within its streets, offering protection, while a good number of Omegas meant that valued caregiving was a necessity.

Now at the forefront of the crowd, Hiro heard the sounds of scraping metal, buzzing saws, and the clunk of metal feet. He grinned when he finally caught sight of the Bots, watching the remainder of the fight and searching for flaws in the style and Bots themselves. From the angle between a bony-hipped woman and another’s Bot, he couldn’t tell which fighter belonged to the reigning champion and which belonged to the contender. The larger Bot fell and the crowd shifted in their excitement, allowing Hiro to push for a better look. A teenage girl with pink hair and plenty of piercings had her back to the crowd, but her shoulders showed her cockiness in lieu of her smile as she directed her Bot to approach her downed opponent.

Hiro knew the girl had lost as soon as she took the first step. He watched with disdain as the other Bot cut apart the girl’s, believing the outcome to be her just desserts for overstepping her comfort zone. Champions didn’t make those types of mistakes which meant the person Hiro was looking for sat on the other side of the ring. He tilted his head, straining to catch his first glimpse of Little Yama. He needn’t have worried as the man in question jumped to his feet, full to bursting with pride.

Yama’s Bot Fighter name matched his physical stature to a frightening degree. Hiro felt a small shudder ripple across his skin at the champion’s sheer mass and height. Plans couldn’t be rescheduled, however, since Yama’s attendance at Bot Fights varied. Hiro’s one chance at defeating the champ glared at him from the man’s smirk on the other side of the ring.

“Can I try?” The amount of time it took to perfect the timid voice Hiro donned for Bot goers’ benefit was well-spent. People at every single arena he’d visited had laughed and mocked him and Megabot. Every referee and every fighter had told him the same that this referee and Yama did with those condescending smirks. His small amount of pocket change and timid personality often changed a fighter’s mind, thinking that they could send this scrappy little kid crawling back home with his tail tucked between his legs.

“Prepare your bot. Zero.” Yama chuckled to himself, pleased with his own joke as titters ran through the surrounding crowd.

Hiro sat across from Yama, casting the large man a wary look with practiced ease while his mind searched for weaknesses. A big guy like Yama surely had a temper, not to mention his cockiness was sure to work against the man once Hiro flipped the battle. He sat with his back ramrod straight, his legs tucked beneath his body though he appeared to have little flexibility. When Yama cracked his neck, Hiro replicated the motion and supplied his own noises, earning more mocking laughter. No doubt lingered in Hiro’s mind that Yama identified as an Alpha.

“Two bots enter—one bot leaves.” The referee glanced between the two fighters, her one visible eye shining as she caught Hiro’s gaze. She was probably an Alpha, too. Female referees like her were rare and needed steel-hardened veins to handle irate losers. Hiro averted his gaze once she started smirking.

“Fight!”

Hiro fumbled with his controller, his movements forcing Megabot’s reactions to jerk all over the place. No matter the number of Bot Fights Hiro had entered, the contestants still hadn’t caught on to his strategy.

Yama ripped through Megabot, the latter robot landing in three separate pieces. Laughter filled the alley, Yama’s booming over everyone, as Hiro hovered over his bot feigning surprise.

“One more fight, please?”

“Go home, kid.” Yama grinned, his fat fingers inching toward the money on the collection plate.

“I have more money.” Hiro pulled the wad of cash from his back pocket, holding it out toward the referee and Yama. The two adults exchanged glances, the referee shaking her head while Yama grinned.

“Place your bet, Zero.” Yama rolled his shoulders again and cracked his knuckles.

Hiro pressed his bet onto the collection plate, his eyes flitting between the referee and Yama while he retook his seat on his side of the ring.

The referee lowered her umbrella between the two bots again, her gaze piercing into Hiro’s. “Two bots enter. One bot leaves,” she remained silent for a dramatic pause before shouting, “Fight!”

Hiro smirked, pressing a button on his controller that doubled its size. “Megabot. Destroy.”

His small bot quivered and reattached itself, his smiling face switching to his angry look once Hiro began pressing buttons in rapid succession. Megabot danced circles around Little Yama, dodging every frantic attack up until the point Megabot dismantled the larger robot’s body and turned its own limbs against it.

Silence followed the abrupt end of the match when Megabot popped off Little Yama’s head. Yama sputtered, confusion turning to rage the longer Hiro spoke about how some fights are just lost. His voice tapered off into a squeak when Yama stood—towered—over him

“Show the little brat what happens when someone hustles Little Yama.” The bot fighter shoved Hiro against the brick wall, a sneer pulling at his lips as three lackeys attempted to take Yama’s place.

Hiro recoiled, his shoulders drawing up to his neck. “H-Hey, guys! Let’s, uh,” he gulped, gripping Megabot tighter, “talk this through? Maybe?”

One of the men bared his teeth, smirking at the young teenager, and extended his hand toward Hiro’s face. The boy squeaked, ducking beneath the man’s grasp only to hit his hand with Megabot. The thug howled, cradling his aching hand against his chest, and retreated. Despite the unexpected attack, the other two men continued to surround Hiro.

“Hiro!”

His name on his older brother’s lips jump-started Hiro’s mind. “Tadashi,” he shouted, straining to look around the men. With his brother’s arrival, Hiro didn’t have to worry about anything—Tadashi would find a way out of this mess.

Tadashi Hamada jumped off his scooter, his eyes blazing as he approached the men surrounding Hiro. At first they appeared to want to stand their ground against the older Hamada brother. Upon catching his scent, however, the two men changed their minds, tripping over their own feet to move out of his way.

“Are you hurt?” Tadashi knelt in front of Hiro, eyes raking over the younger’s frame and checking for any injuries.

“No, I’m fine, but Tadashi, we should really get out of here.” Hiro glanced over his brother’s shoulder. “I mean, Yama’s pretty mad and—”

“Wants his money back.” The Bot Fighter’s booming voice reverberated around the alley.

Hiro shrunk behind Tadashi, his wide eyes betraying the fear and worry he’d been battling since winning against the Champion. Tadashi stood, the fire returning to his eyes. Turning to face Yama, he drew himself up even further, his back ramrod straight, shoulders stiff, and feet firmly planted in front of Hiro. The younger brother grabbed the hem of Tadashi’s cardigan.

“Tadashi, come on! Let’s just get out of here,” Hiro hissed, desperately attempting to pull his older brother back to the scooter.

“You’re not going to touch him.” The chill in Tadashi’s words froze Hiro’s movements. “I won’t allow it.” A soft warning growl lingered beneath Tadashi’s otherwise level tone of voice.

Silence plagued the alley, the onlookers holding their breaths just as much as Hiro as they waited for Yama’s reaction. The Bot Fighter towered over Tadashi. Their eyes remained glued to one another, neither moving a muscle nor giving an inch. Yama shifted after a moment, the corner of his lip pulling into a half-smirk. Tadashi’s soft growl answered the perceived threat.

Frozen, his fingers digging into Tadashi’s clothes, Hiro watched the exchange, hardly daring to breathe. Interrupting a territorial dispute between Alphas ended poorly for the person in the middle. Though fear overwhelmed Hiro at the thought of his older brother being hurt because of him, he could do nothing to alleviate the situation save for hoping that Yama would back down.

Moment after moment passed, Tadashi and Yama continuing their stare-down, until the latter sighed. With his exhalation, the fight left his body. “The brat’s not worth it. It’s not like I’ve lost too much tonight.” The Bot Fighter focused a glare on the boy. “Don’t think you’ll get away that easily again, Zero.”

Yama spat on the ground between himself and the Hamada brothers, gracing them with a final glare before making his exit. Tadashi remained on the alert, his glare moving along the walls of the alley, searching for another threat. Onlookers lowered their eyes, a respectful admission to the strongest Alpha at the time, and offered no problems when Tadashi herded Hiro the scooter. Whispers rippled amongst the crowd as Tadashi started the scooter, the people parting before him to make a path out of the alley.

Conversation between the Hamada brothers didn’t start until Tadashi turned onto a friendlier, busier street.

“What were you thinking, knucklehead?” Tadashi reached around, hitting a flustered Hiro along the shoulders and helmet. “You could’ve been hurt!”

“But I wasn’t! You showed up just in the nick of time, as usual. Thanks for that.” Hiro played off his earlier worry, the bright lights of the street already working against his previous emotions.

“And if I hadn’t showed up? What about that—do you ever think about that, Hiro?” Tadashi directed the scooter around a slower car, casting an annoyed look at its window. “What do you think would’ve happened if I hadn’t known where you were?”

Hiro shook his head, refusing to think about the very real possibilities. “I had it under control. For the most part.”

“Unbelievable,” Tadashi muttered, shaking his head. “You have such a big brain, you have so much going for you, and that is what you decide to do with your life? I mean, couldn’t you have at least turned your fascination with robots to good use?”

Rolling his eyes, Hiro opened his mouth, but Tadashi cut him off.

“The medical field uses robotics for surgeries. Maybe even the architectural field could use some handy robots to help with the more dangerous situations. But no, you decide to build a fighting robot and gamble away your allowance.” Tadashi took a turn too sharp in his anger, the scooter skidding from the speed.

Hiro gulped, his arms tightening around Tadashi. He felt his older brother take a few deep breaths, calming his righteous temper and reasserting protective older brother mode.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Hiro?”

Burying his face into Tadashi’s shoulder, Hiro nodded and muttered, “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.”

“That’s good, because we have a pit stop to make before heading home.”

Warning bells flared at the smug tone in Tadashi’s voice. Hiro lifted his head enough to look over Tadashi’s shoulder. At the sight of the huge, brightly lit school building looming before them, Hiro couldn’t help but groan.


	2. Nerds

_**~ Maybe Tadashi’s nerd school isn’t so bad. ~** _

Linoleum floors shined beneath the school’s fluorescent lighting, Hiro’s sneakers squeaking with every step. He buried his hands within his hoodie pockets, keeping his chin low as he followed Tadashi through the hallway and ignoring his brother’s knowing glances.

The thought of joining Tadashi at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology didn’t bother Hiro. Knowing that he’d be forced to listen to adults explain theories he already knew, and had grasped at a young age, left a sour taste in his mouth. Throw in the knowledge that SFIT boasted a large student population, 60% of which classified as Alphas, and Hiro’s discomfort sky-rocketed.

“You know this place is pretty high on the list of safest schools in the district.” Tadashi smiled at Hiro’s grimace. “I know you don’t like the whole presenting idea and the dynamics, but it’s not all bad.”

Hiro scuffed his foot along the floor, creating a high-pitched whine that made Tadashi flinch. “I’d rather not present at all.”

“Maybe you are a Beta, Hiro. You won’t know for a long time, though, if that’s the case.” Tadashi stopped in the middle of the hall and turned to face his brother. “Why do you have such a grudge against Alphas? We’re not bad people, are we?”

Ignoring the faint hurt in his older brother’s eyes, Hiro gave his honest reply. “A lot of Alphas are cocky and selfish. They’re groomed to be a certain way, and I dislike that. I don’t want to change who I am because my body decides to do something without my permission.”

Tadashi frowned, reaching out to ruffle Hiro’s hair. “Don’t worry, little bro. You won’t change when you present. You’re too stubborn.” The older Hamada tapped Hiro’s chin with his knuckle, grinning at the younger’s affronted noise before turning to the door beside them. “So I want you to meet some people. I think you’re going to like them.”

“Sure, whatever you say. Because I’m so interested in your nerd lab.” Hiro rolled his eyes, shuffling into the huge lab area after his brother. He had mere seconds to take in the different sights and varying inventions before a yellow blur almost ran into him.

“Heads up!”

Hiro jumped back with a yelp, wide eyes following the helmeted girl. She muttered a few choice words beneath her breath, looking over a thin wheel before throwing it back to the bike and walking away. Hiro took her place, circling her bike and commenting on its finer points.

“Oi. Kid.” She noticed his curiosity.

Paling and fidgeting beneath her helmeted gaze, Hiro offered his practiced shy smile and motioned toward her bike. “This is pretty cool.”

The girl removed her helmet to show a girl with black and purple hair. She looked over Hiro, raising an eyebrow as she popped a gum bubble. “It’s still not fast enough.”

“Hey Go Go,” Tadashi greeted the girl, grinning and setting his hand on Hiro’s shoulder. “I want you to meet my little brother, Hiro.”

Go Go glanced between the Hamada brothers, shrugged, and smirked as she passed by them, saying, “Welcome to the nerd lab.”

Tadashi chuckled at the look Hiro gave him, moving to the next work space where a large-shouldered guy looked over a couple of metal pillars. Hiro followed, his curiosity pushing him to investigate up close.

“Hey, hey, hey! Behind the line, please,” the guy snapped at Hiro, panic infusing his voice.

“What’s up, Wasabi? This is my little brother, Hiro.” Tadashi stopped beside Hiro, grinning at his friend.

“Hello, Hiro.” Wasabi’s panic faded into a relaxed smile. “Prepare to be amazed, little man.” He strapped safety goggles over his eyes before picking up an apple, holding it up for Hiro to see. When Hiro nodded, Wasabi grinned, said, “Catch!” and threw the apple to Hiro.

The boy caught a paper thin sliver of the apple’s remains, astounded as he looked turned it every which way. “Laser technology… Amazing!” Hiro returned Wasabi’s excited look, joining the elder in his workspace.

Lines outlined every item’s place with every item perfectly situated. Hiro laughed, amused, and picked up one of Wasabi’s tools. “How do you find anything in this mess?”

“Ah, ah, ah. Everything has its proper place,” Wasabi said, snatching the tool back from Hiro and replacing it. He straightened, a proud look on his face, until Go Go darted over.

“Need this!” Go Go shouted.

Hiro watched Wasabi chase after the girl, wondering for just a moment whether standing around was the better choice, when a second girl with blonde hair dashed by with a huge ball of tungsten. The teenager followed at Tadashi’s urging, amazed by the girl’s reception both of his brother and himself. He rubbed at his cheek where she kissed him, glancing between her and Tadashi.

“Hiro, meet Honey Lemon,” Tadashi introduced her, not even bothering to hide his amusement at Hiro’s reactions.

“I’ve heard so much about you, Hiro! Oh, you’re going to love this! C’mere,” Honey Lemon rambled, pulling Hiro around the tungsten to her laboratory area. He noted that she exclusively worked with chemicals—though SFIT had rules, as an institution, it seemed that its students had free reign with their projects and talents.

The only person out of place in the lab turned out to be a guy named Fred, but no one seemed to care that he wasn’t a student. Hiro couldn’t help but like the spontaneous person, intrigued by his comical ideas until Tadashi tapped his shoulder. The elder Hamada jerked his head toward the back of the joint lab, motioning for Hiro to follow him once again.

Once the two shut themselves into Tadashi’s lab, he turned to Hiro, a questioning look in his eyes. Hiro grunted, looking around the room to stall for time. He hated admitting when he was wrong, and Tadashi knew it.

“Okay, fine. They might be nerds, but they don’t seem all that bad.” Hiro directed his gaze back to his brother. “Most of your group is made up of Alphas. Just like I said about its student population.”

Tadashi lifted an eyebrow, blinking at the other Hamada. “Are they that easy to figure out?”

Hiro shrugged. “I’m a critical thinker. I analyze everything. Even people.” He rubbed his upper arm, shrugging into the silence. “They don’t seem all that bad for being Alphas. And Betas are hardly ever problematic.”

“I’m glad that you approve of them. They’re quirky, yeah, but they’re good people.” Tadashi smiled to himself, glancing at the door before waving his hand in a general circle in relation to his lab. “What do you think?”

Taking his cue, Hiro started to explore the small area, noting different small projects and schematics his brother had started. His brother permeated the room from his hand in decorating and the small messes littering the floor to his scent in what fabric was in the room.

“It’s just like you, Dashi.” Hiro tilted his head, teasing Tadashi by picking up a small pile of scribbled notes and doodles to wave them around.

“Hardy har.” Tadashi stuck his tongue out at Hiro. “Put those back where you found ‘em, and come over here.”

Hiro did as instructed, questioning Tadashi’s motives and yelping when he stuck and jerked duct tape off Hiro’s arm. A loud whooshing noise filled the room as he cradled his arm, confused eyes watching the white balloon man step out from his charging station, set aside a randomly placed stool, and approach him.

“Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion. I was alerted to the need of medical attention when you said ow.” Hiro rolled his eyes at his brother’s pantomimes behind Baymax. “Allow me to scan you now.”

Tadashi managed to create a technological and medical marvel in his robotic nurse. Baymax, with his top-of-the-line medical knowledge and high-grade supplies, could help plenty of people where normal humans had no possibility of helping. His strong skeleton, while a good idea, held up poorly beneath his paper thin exterior. Tadashi reassured Hiro that his plans took most disasters and scenarios into account with future plans and upgrades meant to further strengthen Baymax’s design. Hiro watched Tadashi, smiling at the bright look reflected in his eyes as he looked over his project.

For the entirety of Hiro’s life, Tadashi had been the protective wall that kept out everything bad or dangerous. That instinct deepened around the time his older brother had presented as an Alpha, causing Hiro a score of problems when Tadashi would barrel into his classroom or follow him to the toilet in the following months. Though the Alpha instinct had dimmed, it still existed and reared its head every now and again. Hiro knew that instinct was what built Baymax, even if his brother denied the hypothesis, and that the best coding that lay in his brother’s mind existed in the robot’s data.

Hiro hoped he would find that type of deep calling one day.

“So? You like what you see so far, little bro?” Tadashi nudged Hiro’s shoulder.

Even a non-genius could figure out Tadashi’s plan. He wanted Hiro to redirect his talents and time toward a more rewarding and safer past time, such as more schooling, and went about introducing him to it in one of the only viable ways. Hiro sighed, appreciating his brother’s worry and how much he cared, but he found it annoying that Tadashi wanted to direct his future so much. He opened his mouth to reply, but a knock on the door interrupted him.

“Burning the midnight oil, Mr. Hamada?”

The Hamada brothers turned at the visitor’s voice. A gray-haired man stood in the doorway of Tadashi’s lab, smiling as he looked between the two males.

“Hey, Professor. I was actually just finishing up.” Tadashi easily replied, returning the man’s smile before busying himself with straightening the papers on his desk.

“And you must be Hiro.” The man’s attention turned to the younger, his attitude never changing from one of fatherly curiosity. “I’ve heard quite a lot about you from Tadashi. How’s your career in Bot Fighting?”

Hiro relaxed, a nervous grin flitting across his features at the man’s teasing. “Well, you know, it goes okay. It’s pretty fun most of the time.”

“I see,” the man said, chuckling as he moved into the hallway. “That’s all my daughter wanted to do growing up was become a Bot Fighter.” A shadow crossed the man’s brow. “May I see your Bot?” He held his hand out, eyes flicking between Hiro and Megabot.

“Huh? Uh, sure, yeah. No problem.” Hiro, his hand hesitant, slipped Megabot into the man’s hand. He watched him, listening to the man’s mumblings beneath his breath. Tadashi’s scrutiny didn’t escape Hiro’s notice. Upon hearing the man mention the coding put into Megabot, Hiro swelled with pride. “Yeah, it’s pretty sick, right? I could explain some things if you’d like.”

A knock came on the wall to Tadashi’s lab. The blackout program faded and Tadashi’s muted voice projected through the wall. “Hey, genius. He invented it.”

“Wait, you’re… You’re Robert Callaghan. The Callaghan? As in Callaghan’s Laws of Robotics?” Hiro stumbled over his words, nervousness pooling in his stomach as he looked at the man in a new light. “It’s… It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”

Callaghan smiled and handed back Megabot. “Hiro, you seem like a bright young man. Are you sure I can’t interest you in joining my program here at SFIT?”

“Wait, what?” Hiro stared at the professor at a loss for words. “B-But SFIT never accepts Omegas or unpresented students!”

“I don’t see that it would be too much of a problem with what I've heard about you from Tadashi.” Callaghan shrugged one of his shoulders, smiling at the young boy. “Omegas aren’t known for their ingenuity, now are they?”

“I dunno. He seems to be making himself a good career in Bot Fighting.” Tadashi exited his lab, tapping Hiro’s shoulder with his knuckles in a playful gesture and jerking his head toward the door at the end of the hall. The tense set to his shoulders tipped off Hiro that Tadashi disliked Callaghan’s stance on presentations.

“That’s too bad then.” Callaghan followed the brothers, his hands in his pockets. “My program is challenging. We push the limits of technology here, so if you want things easy… Well, then my program’s not for you.” The professor shook his head, stopping just on the other side of the doors. “But good luck with the Bot Fighting, Hiro.” He winked at the young boy before the doors closed.

On the way back to the front of the school, Hiro retreated into himself, sorting through his thoughts at being invited to attend SFIT—by one of the most influential inventors of his time no less.

“Don’t pay any attention to Professor Callaghan’s stances on presentations, Hiro. He’s an old-school Alpha.” Tadashi broke into Hiro’s musings. “He believes that Omegas are meant to be subservient and remain within caretaking roles.” The elder Hamada gritted his teeth. “He’s a brilliant man, but his views are the only part about him that I dislike.”

“Tadashi, it’s okay.” Hiro grinned though that was the last thing he felt like doing. “I mean, what’re the odds that I’ll present as an Omega? It’s more likely that I’ll be a Beta, like we’ve talked about before. And SFIT accepts nearly as many Beta students as they do Alphas, so it’ll be okay.”

Raising an eyebrow, Tadashi grinned as he held the front door open for his brother. “What’ll be okay, exactly?”

Hiro scowled back at Tadashi before stomping down the steps, pretending to ignore the other until they reached the scooter. He groaned, hanging his head, and muttered, “How do I get in?”


	3. Quirks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I was writing this, I felt like it wouldn't be that interesting to my audience. I apologize if that's the case, but I couldn't figure out a different way to go about this chapter and also keep in tandem with the movie.

**_~ Hiro has difficulty getting along with new people. ~_**  


“Every year the Institute hosts a showcase where potential students can show off their best inventions. Win at the showcase, you get into the program.” Tadashi stapled the flyer to Hiro’s tack board while he spoke. “But you have to create something that will really wow the judges. Keep in mind, too, that Professor Callaghan will be one of them.” He turned to Hiro. “Think you can do it?”

Smirking, Hiro cracked his knuckles and spun around in his chair. “Just you wait, Dashi. You better stand back, because once the creative genius starts flowing, there’s no stopping it!”

~*~*~*~

“Stupid,” Hiro thumped his head against his desk, “useless,” and again, “empty brain!” He kept his forehead down after uttering the last word. Twenty minutes of staring at the blank piece of paper with no forthcoming ideas left Hiro feeling pathetic. The headache from wracking his brain didn’t help either.

“Wow. Washed up at fourteen,” Tadashi drawled from where he was sprawled out on his bed, looking through a random magazine. “So sad.”

“I’ve got nothing!” Hiro threw himself back into the chair, sliding a couple of inches across the floor. “I’m never getting in.”

Before Hiro could wallow in self-pity, Tadashi sprung up from his bed and turned Hiro’s chair around. “Hey. I’m not giving up on you.” The elder Hamada’s eyes narrowed, his face inches from the surprised Hiro’s. Seconds later Hiro’s legs were thrown over Tadashi’s shoulders.

“Oi, what’re you doing?” Hiro shouted, scrabbling to grab onto his brother’s shoulders and right himself.

Tadashi wouldn’t let him, jumping around their room and shaking Hiro like a ragdoll. “C’mon, shake things up! You’ve got to look at this from a new perspective.” Tadashi stopped moving for a few blessed moments, straining to look over his shoulder at Hiro.

“What’re you talking about?” Hiro gasped, pulling himself up enough to meet his brother’s eye.

“Look at it from a new angle,” Tadashi cajoled, grinning his trademark ‘I believe in you’ smile.

Hiro groaned and let himself fall against his brother’s back, coming to terms with his fate of remaining upside down. His thoughts, which were originally going through the different ways he could force Tadashi to put him down, scattered once he laid eyes on Megabot. Ideas raced across his mind’s eye. He pulled himself up, getting a better view of his Bot, and grinned.

“Tadashi. You’re a genius.”

~*~*~*~

Creating new and awe-inspiring technology called for more than one set of hands. Tadashi agreed to help Hiro, and even offered to pick up the necessary parts from the hardware store. Hiro hadn’t expected, upon his brother’s return, to see the entirety of Tadashi’s nerd group tagging along behind him.

“Hey, little man,” Fred greeted him. “We heard you have an awesome idea that’ll blow everyone else out of the water! A mega death ray is finally going to be invented, right? You’ve cracked the code?” He clapped his hands in excitement.

“Fred, hush. There’s no such thing as a mega death ray even with the correct science.” Honey Lemon gently admonished her friend before giving Hiro a sheepish smile. “Tadashi did say you have a good idea that could win the showcase, but that you’ll need some help. We came to offer ours if you’ll accept it.”

Accepting help came easier to Hiro than interacting with people he barely knew. Neither quirk helped Hiro at the moment. He sent Tadashi a heated glare, trying to convey his displeasure at being blind-sided. His brother trusted the four if he invited them to help with Hiro’s inventing.

“I can handle all the coding and designing. I’ll really just need people to physically move them around until I can complete the neuro-cranial transmitter.” Hiro let them know a fraction of his idea, his way of weeding out the untrustworthy. By the look Tadashi gave him in response, his brother disapproved but understood.

“I have no idea what that does, but it sounds awesome,” Fred crowed.

“Where do you need us for now, Hiro?” Wasabi asked, having finished walking around and looking at the garage space.

“For now? Over there.” Hiro absently waved toward the couches in the corner. “I need space.”

“Understood, little man.” Wasabi agreed with an easy smile, pushing Fred and Go Go toward the area. Honey Lemon also smiled as she passed Hiro, leaving Tadashi standing beside his brother.

“Why did you bring them?” Hiro hissed once they stepped out of earshot.

“Because you really do need the help. Here’s everything you told me to pick up.” Tadashi set two full bags on Hiro’s desk.

“I do not,” Hiro muttered, beginning to rifle through and sort the items. Most were going to be used to create the transmitter though a few replacement tools interspersed the building materials.

Tadashi patted Hiro’s shoulder, grinning. “Whatever you say.” He joined his friends, laughing at one of Fred’s tasteless jokes along with the others.

Irked at the intrusion, Hiro kept his attention focused on his work. Or he at least tried to remain focused. Random outbursts of laughter and loud jokes ruined his creative groove every ten minutes. Unable to ignore the intruders in his lab space, he took to cataloguing what he could about his brother’s friends while continuing to work.

Fred, by far, stood out the most. Loud and grinning, he couldn’t keep his hands to himself or his mouth shut for more than two minutes at a time. First glances would write off the older male for some type of surfer dude with little knowledge retention, and Tadashi would smack him upside the head if he knew Hiro was stereotyping. Fred had entertained Hiro at their first meeting, but the younger ultimately thought the same thing. Seeing Fred interact with the others in the nerd group began to change Hiro’s mind.

The difference between stupidity and being easy-going gulfed a wide bay. Fred took life slower than most people were accustomed to moving. Hiro, who moved at light speed in every moment save for in his sleep, assumed that Fred wouldn’t be able to match him. Listening to him rattle off different superhero inventions and the reasoning behind why they should be invented—even sometimes supplying a how—intrigued Hiro. Most of what Fred said would never amount to more than science fiction, but a few suggestions stuck out to Hiro. Creating a machine to boost a person’s natural jumping ability, for instance, shouldn’t prove too difficult.

Go Go existed on the spectrum opposite from Fred. Where he shouted in the middle of the group and showed every one of his emotions, she kept to herself by leaning against a wall, school her face into a passive state aside from chewing her gum. Confidence poured from her small frame in waves to the point that Hiro no longer doubted her Alpha orientation. While rarer than all but the Omega presentations, female Alphas retained just as much cockiness as their male counterparts. Being top of the food chain usually colored their outlooks on life and conditioned them to be near intolerable.

She didn’t come across that way to Hiro the longer he watched her. Protectiveness was engrained in an Alpha’s nature, but he had never seen it in action. He noted the way her posture would shift at every unexplained noise until she ascertained what made it. Her eyes followed each of her friends’ movements, and the one time Tadashi ran into the café to beg drinks and snacks from Aunt Cass, she didn’t relax until he returned. Hiro deduced she already had a pack mentality forming, and he smiled to himself knowing that his older brother had a silent guardian watching over him.

Hiro hissed when the piece of machinery in his hand shocked him. Allowing himself to invest too much time into surveying the nerd group took away from the concentration necessary to finish the most important part of his project.

“Need any help?” Wasabi called out from the corner of the garage.

All conversation ceased, the group waiting for Hiro’s answer. Embarrassed by the eyes he felt on the back of his head, Hiro answered in the negative.

“I’m still fine. Thanks, though.”

“Just let us know when and we’ll be right there,” Wasabi said.

Contrary to societal belief, Wasabi appeared to be a mothering Alpha. His eyes periodically strayed from his friends to check on Hiro’s progress, his eyebrow twitching when Hiro came close to electrocuting himself or smashing his fingers in his tools. Wasabi took to straightening the break area mere moments into the group’s conversation, catching and stopping himself six times before Tadashi gave him the go ahead. Cleanliness and worry pooled together in the model Alpha physique within the college student. Hiro wondered whether Wasabi’s Alpha status saved him from insults about his nitpickiness and being a mother hen. Such traits were usually domineered by the Beta presentations, making them good babysitters or teachers.

Speaking of Betas, Honey Lemon all but outright screamed Beta presentation. She steered conversations away from dangerous or uncomfortable topics, kept Fred from snooping too much into Hiro’s personal workspace, and even offered to help Aunt Cass in the café during a busy hour. Even being so many years younger, Hiro understood Honey Lemon claimed brains and looks—advantages that most people would think were blessings.

The night he met her in the lab, however, Hiro caught the looks sent her way by her fellow students. A few girls had glared when she spoke with Tadashi while the guys grinned and nudged each other. Students who cared about nothing aside from their projects kept their heads down and concentrated while their peers quietly mocked a scientific genius. Out of all of Tadashi’s friends, Hiro thought he liked Honey Lemon the best so far.

“And done.” Hiro held up the transmitter, grinning and congratulating himself on a job well done. The Velcro fit around his head without cutting off circulation and all the initial coding appeared kosher. Without the objects the transmitter was meant to control, however, Hiro couldn’t test its full capabilities. “So this is where I’m going to need your help.” He swiveled around in his chair, glancing at the waiting college students before looking away and pushing his chair across the garage.

“What do you need, Hiro?” Tadashi asked, walking over to stand behind Hiro’s chair, peering over his shoulder at the computer as the younger typed.

“Once I get this coding down, I’m going to be mass producing a lot of these things.” Hiro motioned to the picture on the 3D printer’s screen. “We’re going to need a lot of big containers to store and transport them. So really you guys will help me do the heavy lifting.” Hiro rolled his eyes at Tadashi’s pleading look. “Maybe even look over my coding and schematics to catch any mistakes I might miss,” Hiro grudgingly added.

“No problemo,” Fred said, a huge grin plastered onto his face. “I’m a pro at catching mistakes.”

Hiro must have put on a disbelieving look, because Go Go spoke up. “He’s not actually lying.”

Hiro shrugged, accepting the girl’s word at face value. “With five proofreaders overall, I don’t think it matters if it’s true or not. The mistakes’ll be found sooner or later.”

“Hiro, are you positive that you’re okay with this?” Honey Lemon asked, clasping her hands in front of her.

“What do you mean?” Hiro sent her a questioning look around Tadashi, slightly annoyed at the prolonged conversation.

“You’re showing us something important to you by letting us look over your work. Are you comfortable with that?”

Hiro decided to add being a mother hen to his mental profiling for Honey Lemon as well. He forced a tight smile and nodded. “If I wasn’t, I would have told you guys to go home, or at least inside, instead of letting you hang around in here.”

The smiles directed toward him caused a blush to creep up Hiro’s neck to his ears. Clearing his dry throat, he turned his eyes back to the computer screen. Tadashi rested his hand on Hiro’s shoulder and squeezed, silently thanking or congratulating the younger Hamada. Hiro couldn’t tell for sure, which bugged him more than was probably normal.

“It’ll take me at least another half hour to complete a draft of the coding, so you guys can go hang out in the café or something,” Hiro mumbled beneath his breath. Everyone staring at him, waiting for him to finish his work, would only cause more mistakes in the long run while he worried about them.

“You heard him,” Tadashi said, stepping away from Hiro’s chair and sporting a large smile. “Although this might be the best time to head in. Aunt Cass is cooking for the lunch rush, which means plenty of lunch and dessert.”

Fred jumped to his feet, eyes bright as he clapped. “Dude, you had me at lunch.”

Tadashi herded his friends into the café, bringing up the rear just so he could throw a wink Hiro’s way before disappearing inside. Hiro, unamused by his brother’s antics, ran a hand through his hair and stared at the screen. Coding never bothered Hiro before, but the logistics behind his recent project needed to be one hundred percent correct. He already knew how he would showcase his work. One wrong move meant a small injury for a best case scenario or a trip to the hospital for a worst. Disliking both options, Hiro instead opted to complete his coding in such a spectacular way that the judges would be begging him to register with SFIT by the end of the night.

Cracking his knuckles, Hiro scooted his chair closer to the computer. His fingers danced over the keys, words flowing from his mind to the screen at a gradually increasing pace. By the time Tadashi and his friends reentered the garage, Hiro was bouncing on the edge of his seat, impatient for his proofreaders to return so that the true magic could begin.


End file.
